Seattle's new mayor sees inspiration and obligation from her office window

SEATTLE — On her first full day in office, Mayor Jenny Durkan showed us the view from her new 7th floor office.

"You know it's so amazing when I came up here and looked out I realized so many parts of my life are reflected in what I see right here," she said.

She pointed out the King County Courthouse, where she remembers watching her father in court. Close by is the Smith Tower, where she worked for the public defender's office. Her grandfather once lived a couple of blocks away at the Arctic Club.

"Now I have the responsibility of moving our city to that next generation. It's both exhilarating and a little daunting," Durkan said.

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Yesterday's swearing-in celebrations now give way to the challenges she faces.

"I think the toughest promise to keep is to make sure we really change the dial on affordability. Cause it's the hardest problem we have."

In September, Durkan promised to quickly provide rent vouchers for those with critical needs on the Seattle Housing Authority list.

"We think we can clear that list within the first week or two," she said then.

Though she signed an executive order yesterday, a rental assistance program won't be developed until at least January, and it may not include vouchers.

Today we asked Durkan what happened to the "first week" promise.

"I don't want to talk about timelines," she responded. "Look, we're going to try to do it as quickly as we can. I'm a mayor coming in, I have the budget I have but we have a commitment and we're going find strategies to help people today."

"The other part of it," she continued, "is economic opportunity to make sure those people who are earning less today and don't have those opportunities actually get that opportunity."

Durkan sees education as an important way to improve economic opportunity and today launched her plan to provide free college tuition to Seattle high school graduates. She expects to have details within her first 100 days in office.

Cox Media Group